Isabella d'Este

Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474-13 February 1539) was the Marchesa of Mantua from 1490 to 1519, succeeding Margaret of Bavaria and preceding Margaret Paleologa.

Biography
Isabella d'Este was born in Ferrara, Italy on 19 May 1474, the daughter of Ercole I d'Este and Eleanor of Naples. At the age of sixteen, she married Francesco II Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua, and she served as regent while her husband led troops on the battlefields of the Italian Wars. In 1500, she met with King Louis XII of France in Milan and persuaded him not to send his troops against Mantua. As the regent of Mantua, Isabella commanded not only diplomatic and state power, but also cultural power; she became one of the best-known patrons of the arts of the Renaissance. Isabella was a powerful female ruler, and she reigned as Marchesa until 1519, when her son Federico II Gonzaga came of age to rule in his own right. She died in 1539.